Like his friend and mentor, John McCain, Lindsey Graham attempted to be a strong and independent voice on the right. Like McCain, Graham was bitterly critical of Donald Trump prior to the 2016 election. But unlike McCain, Graham decided to play the insider game and suck up relentlessly to Trump in the hope that it would win him influence in matters of foreign policy. He was very open about making this bargain with the devil in an interview about a year ago.
Today, Graham is one of Trump’s most vocal defenders, even in the face of admissions that Trump used his office to demand inappropriate political and legal favors from Ukraine. You have to wonder what McCain would have thought of that. Actually, you don’t have to wonder; you already know.
And for what? Can Graham point to any actual successes in foreign affairs? Has Trump suddenly become a neocon under his tutelage? Obviously not.
At the present rate, Graham is in danger of being portrayed in history books as one of the men who helped midwife fascism in the United States. I hope he considers that when, as is likely, he has to vote on articles of impeachment in a few months.